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Artificial Intelligence (AI) and Machine Learning (ML) are an integral part of many businesses. Leveraging a chatbot or AI virtual assistant, you can not only boost your business revenue but also save cost and create an excellent customer service experience.
It is no surprise that virtual assistants and chatbots have been on the rise.
They are very similar to one another. The main difference between a chatbot and a virtual assistant is design and purpose.
While virtual assistants are made to handle a variety of requests, chatbots are typically more specific with their offerings.
Both increase the delivery of personal assistance. Help with everyday tasks, along with its assistance to work as a second person, freeing you from routine and tedious work.
In this article, we will show chatbot vs virtual assistant comparison, its key differences, how it works, benefits, and more.
What are the key differences between a chatbot and a virtual assistant? Both chatbots and virtual assistants use Natural Language Processing (NLP) to understand the intent behind a user’s question or request, and then feed it back to them in a conversational manner.
A chatbot is a digital assistant that you can use to converse with your customers in natural language and answer their questions or perform some other tasks. 68% of customers like chatbot because it answers the customer query faster and the current Chabot user trends are rising.
However, why is a chatbot designed for?
Virtual assistants are programs that help businesses with various administrative tasks like scheduling appointments, answering emails, and so on.
They respond to requests from people who don’t want to contact a person directly but still want to get their issue resolved quickly.
Chatbots have been a topic of much discussion in recent years, but there’s a new kind of automation that’s gaining steam: the virtual customer assistant.
Siri and Alexa are examples of voice assistants, which provide immediate access to information and services with just a few spoken words.
While virtual assistants are becoming more sophisticated with each passing day, chatbots are still struggling to find their place in online business.
Let’s get to know how virtual customer assistants and chatbots work.
A virtual customer assistant (VCA) uses artificial intelligence to understand and respond to a customer’s request in real-time. This digital assistant can either work independently or complement a live customer service rep.
Did you know more than 80% of orders are being placed over the phone, e-retailers need a way to engage with shoppers over the phone and provide a positive experience for those who want to speak? In this case, a virtual assistant is an ideal solution.
A chatbot is a special technology that allows you to have a conversation with a computer. The bot can learn to answer questions, make recommendations, and book reservations, just like a human being.
It’s the relationship between dialogue and content processing. User responses are matched with the appropriate predefined content and the content process is delivered to the user. It is the best way for a user to communicate with the computer in a natural way.
We compare the pros and cons of each type of bot so that you can choose which one is right for your business.
A chatbot simulates human conversation through auditory or textual methods.
A virtual agent also known as a virtual assistant, or VA is a program but with similarities to an actual assistant: they can answer specific questions, perform specific tasks, and even make recommendations. Both virtual agents and chatbots can drive sales while satisfying the customer’s needs.
In theory, both a chatbot and virtual agent can be programmed to handle the most common customer queries.
As a semi-automated system, a chatbot can handle simple problems more quickly and efficiently than a human can. However, if an issue is complicated or requires an urgent response (e.g., fraud), then the virtual agent wins out.
In the chatbot vs virtual assistant comparison, now I will demonstrate the key benefits of having a chatbot or a virtual assistant. The advancements in artificial intelligence have made it possible to develop technology that can be used by everyone.
One example is through voice assistants and chatbots. Because of this, it has become easier for people to do their daily tasks, as well as get things done by using this technology.
They can usually carry out a variety of tasks like setting reminders, conducting searches on the internet, opening applications, and responding to commands.
You are probably wondering what are the benefits of a voice assistant and chatbot. In the chatbot vs virtual assistant comparison, now let’s take a look at the key benefits.
The major benefits of a voice assistant are ease to access, enhanced privacy controls, and seamless user experience. Let’s take a look at the key benefits of voice assistants.
For example, Staples tied up with a chatbot to provide superior customer service. Staples Messenger chatbot answers customer common questions related to order, tracking, and return.
It can also remind you of important tasks using their voice and process information in different languages.
Chatbots can be used for a variety of tasks, like getting information about products and services, shopping online, setting reminders, making polls and surveys, and so on.
There are many key benefits of chatbots that everyone should know.
A chatbot can be anything from a personal assistant or custom artificial intelligence or even a simple quote machine to handle customer service requests and fulfill basic tasks, all of which would have previously been completed by a human employee.
Let’s take a look at the top features of a chatbot with details.
An essential aspect of any chatbot is its design. The features of a chatbot are like a bot’s personality with which it creates a connection with its users.
The structure and design of a chatbot can be fascinating especially when its features are not only entertaining but also meaningful.
When it comes to creating the features of a chatbot, there are several elements to keep in mind:
A chatbot can hold entire conversations and understand context, which allows it to collect critical information from your website visitors and respond in a way that feels natural. It can even provide potential customers with answers to questions they don’t even know they have yet.
Over 1 billion of the world’s biggest companies use their chatbots and websites to convert their traffic into leads. For example, Sephora is a good example in the retail industry which uses chatbots to generate leads.
When used correctly, chatbots drastically reduce the workload for customer service agents by allowing them to focus on complicated customer service issues while the chatbot handles basic inquiries.
An intelligent chatbot can answer customer questions, provide tips, and serve as an advisor to a person. The chatbot can answer questions about the company’s products and even give practical advice to the average consumer. The chatbot can also provide information about events and the company’s sales.
Real-time chatting, live chat, co-browsing, and video chat are the hottest trends in marketing right now and there is no doubt that they can help you convert website traffic to quality leads. It offers real-time communication and you can engage your audience in a real-time manner.
Around 73% of customers find real-time chatting is the most satisfactory form of communication.
For example, a popular bicycle brand Canyon which has diverse customers across the world. They are supporting a variety of customers from different nations with different languages.
They use the best AI-powered chatbot to connect the customer faster to the suitable sales or support team with their customer-preferred language.
There is no debate that virtual assistants are becoming increasingly popular in all areas of our lives. They are used for everything from work to home help.
According to Forbes, the future of business is automation. They report that “the application of everything” is inevitable and “workers are about to be ringed with a circle and set of rules, to be followed without deviation.
Let’s have a look at the key features of virtual assistants with details.
Every business needs to communicate with the customer properly. Virtual assistants are capable of giving you the expected outcome since they are well versed with the best communication strategies.
Aside from their communication skills, virtual assistants are also knowledgeable about diverse fields such as law and science.
It will also save you money by handling tasks for you that would otherwise cost money, for example booking your next holiday instead of doing it yourself. You can save up to 78% of business operating costs just by a virtual assistant.
A virtual assistant can complete the following task below;
Organizing a schedule is one of the best parts of having a virtual assistant. Not only can it remind you about important deadlines for your business, but it can also help you remember to follow up on tasks you have left undone.
There’s a multitude of tasks you can think about. It helps from time-consuming administrative work to handle all incoming messages when you are out of the office.
A chatbot or virtual assistant powered by AI is designed to be more human-like. So while they do use machine learning, they are not working towards being autonomous (without human direction).
There are many big companies, for example, Starbuck is utilizing a chatbot to make the ordering process easier and stand out in the competition by serving the customer faster.
A virtual assistant, as well as a chatbot, will require a dedicated team and investment, but a chatbot can be operated with much less investment and team.
In the increasingly competitive world of eCommerce, chatbots can help companies reach out to more customers and provide them with a seamless shopping experience. REVE chat will help you to increase customer engagement, improve customer retention rate, reduce the number of customer service calls, etc.
REVE Chat is an intelligent AI chatbot that reaches your prospects and customers in real-time, then converses with them. And it does all this within the familiar platform of Facebook messenger, Whatsapp, Viber, Telegram, and website.
28% of consumers prefer to interact with businesses via live chat. Sign Up now and start a free trial today.
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Juwel is a Sr. Content Writer at REVE Chat. He specializes in writing about customer service and customer engagement. He is passionate about helping businesses create a better customer experience.
He strongly believes that businesses will be able to understand their customers better and ultimately create more meaningful relationships with them.
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